WMD’s in Iraq was such a cover story. They knew they did not exist. If they did, they would not have attacked. Saddam Hussein, as it turns out, was a stupid man. He disarmed his country, literally inviting a US invasion.
But it wasn’t attack for the fun of it. The US had a real motivation. Iraq had changed the base currency for trading oil from the dollar to the Euro. As it turns out, so did Qaddafi in Libya. The US has forced sanctions on Iran, and Iran has turned eastward. It will sell its oil to China, India and South Korea using local currencies, and not petrodollars. That’s an invitation to be attacked.
Without petrodollars, the US sinks like a stone. That is the only thing propping up the dollar.
The question is: Does the US Military know that this is the natural result of the sanctions? I suspect so. The author of this article at RT.com, Michael T. Winter, thinks that “bullies may be large and dangerous, but rarely are they intelligent.” I think the US military is not only highly intelligent, but also maniacal. They want a war.
There will be war with Iran, it appears, starting with an attack by Israel, whose role in that area is to act as a storage depot for US weaponry, the USS Israel. What will stop it? The only players with enough deterrent muscle are Russia and China. Countries are never benevolent, and act only in self-interest. I sincerely hope that there are national security issues for those two countries, otherwise the US is set to plunge that part of the world into another conflagration. Millions more will die.
If only Iran had a nuclear weapon, it could forestall the attack. If they are not trying to build a bomb, they are crazy. They are not crazy. That would be US.
Piece of Mindful 
I disagree to an extent. I think if we are speaking in general terms the consensus in the upper levels of the military would be the opposite:that they don’t want a war with Iran because they are informed enough to know how catastrophic it would be. Im sure there are a number of General Lemay wannabes floating around who want a war for the sake of it but the majority not so. The military itself is not going to drive the train off the tracks. It isn’t their idea to sanction Iran. Top military brass have said in public numerous times that they believe a nuclear Iran can be contained and deterred.
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The question is whether or not we would go nuke on them, or allow Israel to do so. I suggest that the only country on the planet ever to actually incinerate cities with nuclear weapons is the one we have to fear. Iran neither has to be contained nor deterred, as it has been at peace with its neighbors for centuries. (The Iran – Iraq war was instigated by Iraq at the urging of the US in response to the 1979 revolution.)
I got this from Chomsky, and so find it credible – he cited an annual report that the War Department has to make to congress on threat status, and in the Pentagon’s words, Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons serves one purpose – having one would buy them time if they are attacked to negotiate a truce. They are not about to attack anyone else, as they are neither insane nor suicidal. So the problem is the US and Israel, constant saber-rattling, troops and naval buildups, armament stockpiling, missiles aimed at them, and Iran is the threat, right?
I do fear a false flag incident, a Tonkin-like incident, in the near future.
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PS – do follow the link I provided to get a better idea of the importance of petrodollars for US survival as a world power.
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True, to be more specific what I meant is that the US military believes that Iran’s potential use of nuclear weapons would be deterred by the threat of retaliation just as every other country is.
I honestly don’t think the US military or Obama admin are interested in fighting a war with Iran. There are elements within the Israeli govt though (and within the US establishment) that are so delusional and gung ho ish about the matter that there is a possibility. There is a lot of speculation about the Israelis attacking on their own and thinking they will be able to force the hand of the US to back them up…particularly in the backdrop of an election year where if Obama doesn’t act violently enough the republicans can obviously then try to use that to his electoral disadvantage. Lots of quiet visits to Israel lately by high ranking security officials and the scuttle butt is they are trying to warn Israel off of attempting this. Some good articles on Asis Times online.
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I know the petrodollar angle and Im sure the US would try and torpedo it anyway they can but (in my opinion) I dont think thats what is driving this as much as simple old AIPAC politics. Its my understanding the current US backed sanctions regime actually hurts the petrodollar by forcing Iran into more business with those who dont deal in it. I was highly intrigued by the mention of Dominique Straus Kahn though in the article…very interesting. I didnt know what to think of that whole episode (and still dont) but that is very interesting food for thought.
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Yeah – I forgot to mention that in the main piece above. Very interesting. I don’t think that Israel or AIPAC are in the driver’s seat – follow the money, follow the weapons, and you’ll see who the boss is. That is a nice driving angle for policy buffs, and Israel is allowed a free hand to steal land and invade its neighbors, but still exists to serve US interests. In my opinion. If there are a lot of high-level visits to Israel, it could be an indication that they are preparing for war.
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Yeah there is the possibility the visits and whatnot are all for cover. But I think the whole idea of attacking Iran is actually crazy and dangerous in a way that it wasn’t for Iraq/Aghanistan or any other US adventure since the start of the cold war. Dangerous not only to lives and property but also to big money..I think big western money is just as likely to lose as they would benefit from it. I think the majority of policymakers probably recognize this.
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I sincerely hope you are right, but note that the current policy makers and the neocons are indistinguishable if one looks only at deeds and not party-in-power.
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Military brass, CIA and FBI combined could not stop Congress from passing indefinite detainment in the unconstitutional 2012 NDAA. I doubt Obama wants another war just before the election. That leaves the State Dept. and super-hawks with AIPAC tatoos in Congress to pull something off with Iran before the election. The market meltdown gave Obama the edge over (deer in the headlights) McCain in 2008. I look for something unexpected, not an Iran attack. It’s been telegraphed for waaay tooo long.
A missile, or drone, attack on Iran may be used as a distraction for the real deal. One thing is certain, the Rs will need some special sauce to pull Obama off his game long enough to surge ahead and keep the MO until all ballots are cast and counted.
I’m also somewhat expecting a convention floor fight with no first-ballot winner and a Jeb Bush-Santorum ticket emerging. I think the high-rollers and bundlers are very tired of this bunch of clowns. Can’t you just see the whole hispanic bloc turning away from Obama when they get a load of Jeb’s lovely wife and all those smiley-faced Bush kids? This could make for the greatest free tv ad campaign since the Super Bowl.
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I find it hard to believe that domestic politics override the military and it’s wars, especially given that the choices have little impact on policy, foreign or domestic. I suspect that the chain of command is widely misunderstood.
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I think domestic politics drive wars more than we think. Sure, the military gets what it wants. Often it gets more than it wants from Congress and the President. Politicians start wars. Who controls politicians? Where do generals go after they retire to make some real money? Soldiers go where they’re told and die for reasons they do not understand any more than we do. If Petreaus is going to ever be President, he had to get out of that uniform. It’s not unprecedented to move from CIA to the oval office. Not since Ike has a uniform come close. Even Powell had to work for W after taking orders from Poppy.
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Wars are not chosen willy nilly. There are real reasons behind the fake ones. And the petrodollar is sacrosanct, harder and harder to maintain given the rise of China as a massive market for oil. The US has to maintain leverage over China, and oil is a good lever. Ergo, conflicts in oil-rich states that supply China. If we control Iraq’s oil, it gives us leverage over China. western Europe too. cultural affinity aside, everyone is a potential enemy.
This is what makes Venezuela so hard for them to stomach – an oil rich country that is not playing by the rules. there is also great concern about new oil discoveries in Cuban waters. JFK’s planned 12/63 invasion may yet come about.
Iran is, by Iraqi standards anyway, much harder to topple, larger population and ready to fight. I fear nukes are on the table.
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It’s possible, but if U.S. nukes are used anywhere, Obama and the current Congress will be looking at pink-slips. War eventually exceeds America’s domestic tolerance. If we still had the draft Congress would have quit funding wars in Iraq and Afghanistan a long time ago.
Army hierarchy always tends to favor conventional high-intensity warfare. Too bad civilian leaders are rapidly shifting to strategies that employ special forces, and remote-controlled flying robots.
The political reality today is that there will never be enduring domestic support for the kind of war the U.S. Army wants to fight. Passed by, or passed over, boots on the ground are a thing of the past — at least for now. A credible economic recovery depends on it. Reagan never got sucked into a major conflict and put up pretty good numbers. Clinton bombed everybody in sight but kept foot soldiers at home, reserving even more GDP to chum for K Street support in exchange for trade deals, deregulation and “popular” corporate subsidies with no expiration date. It seems to me Obama is making a similar shift. War is going underground, and overhead, but either way it’s going out of plain sight of most Americans.
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